


Salt In The Wound

by Doggo



Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Also Jackie is here even though technically this takes place after act 1, Angst AF, Angst and Comfort, Angst and Porn, Arguments, Blood and Injury, Broken Bones, Deal With It, Extremely mild Jackie/V, First Person, Haters to Lovers sorta??, Hospitals, I miss him ok, I'll add more tags as I need to, Johnny and V's relationship is a lil toxic oop, Johnny can be a fucking asshole, Johnny gets jealous ;), Johnny is bad with feelings, Johnny is lowkey a caring asshole, M/M, Medium Burn, Near Death Experiences, Porn appears in later chapters, Recovery, Serious Injuries, V almost dies in the first chapter, What am I doing, simping for Johnny Silverhand be like, some self hate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:21:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28109988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doggo/pseuds/Doggo
Summary: V nearly dies after a particularly brutal fight and Johnny realizes just how fuckin' much he worries about this two man ship's captain, of course he can't simply just say that though right?? Because the normal way to go about things just wasn't Johnny's style.
Relationships: Johnny Silverhand/Male V, Johnny Silverhand/V
Kudos: 107





	Salt In The Wound

**Author's Note:**

> ALRIGHT FOLKS. This was admittedly not at all what I planned to write next but... the inspiration just came and my fingers got to typing.  
> Things might be heavier in this fic at times but That isn't to say he isn't going to be a softer and funny moments either! But this wasn't exactly meant to be a cheerful rom-com!!  
> The first chapter will potentially be triggering with detailed talk of V's injures and basically coming as close to death as it gets for V without actually walking through the gates of hell himself. (as if he hadn't died once before in the game I gotta torture the poor man weeps)
> 
> I'm contemplating what route I want this fic to go, but I do whole heartedly plan to have some juicy lemon goodness after this first chapter or two (can't say which chapter it'll happen though). Johnny will get potentially very possessive/jealous/overly protective with you/V and that is where the toxicty might come in so again, please be aware of this before starting my fic!!

Your body felt heavy... worn down... the painful ache...the bruising growing darker under your clothes as you struggled to drag your mangled limbs through the murky wet alleyway and away from the fight you so obviously lost.  
You looked down at the blood stains dribbling down your chest that were so obviously fresh that it only could indicate you had some sort of injury in your abdomen, bleeding out slowly. The quickly growing metallic taste on your tongue was an unwelcome one, to which you promptly spit the bright red fluid outwards onto the ground and winced. It didn’t help that the rain was coming down hard and rough, shivering you to your core and you finally couldn’t go on any more. Your knees buckled and you staggered against the filthy brick wall, your metal palm scraping against the hard material as you made contact with the icy solid below you with a half hearted grunt. The air being forced out of your lungs.  
Ow... fuck...  
You shivered, wincing at the pain that started to overcome you even more. Maybe.. you could just sit here,,, for a little while..  
Your optics started to glitch, growing foggy.  
“Hey! Come on kid, get up!” a voice climbed from what felt like the recesses of your skull, growing steadily louder.  
“Kid?? Fuck! This ain’t happening-- get up! You die now and there ain’t nothin’ to fuckin’ save our asses after that, you heAR ME?? there ain’t no guardian angels for the likes of us!!...GET UP!!” Johnny sounded angry, truly angry, but there was something else, panic.  
Was that panic for his own slipping life or yours?? You...couldn’t tell.. your head hurt too much.  
“I..hnn.hh..too..-l-loud” You shivered out, unable to form a proper sentence, your head pounding as the increasingly glitching legend paced beside your lain body, trying to think of something.  
“SHIT, If only I could-- UGH-” The man stomped away angrily, his hand gripping into a fist and slamming into the nearby wall, only instead of it making contact, it simply phased through it.  
“S-sorry...”  
Johnny’s eyes flicked back up in panic once more, rushing over to you and kneeling down, grabbing your shoulders as he tried shaking you. Or.. at least it felt like it. Was his hands really holding your shoulders, the grip so tight you swear his knuckles were turning white, the overly obvious look of terror in his dark eyes, or was this all some mind trick once more???  
“Oi! Stay awake you little shit! You ain’t dying now! I won’t fucking let you! You hear me? You’re gonna pull through, I promise! Got it?---hey-... can you hea----e?-----k-d?---KID---”  
The voice of the rockstar dipped and glitched more with each passing second before your vision dimmed, the red lights blaring behind your eyelids alerting you of your critical condition. You felt...heavy and scared... but so tired...

Despite feeling like your body was numb to the ice cold rain and the scathing pain that wracked through your body,,, you felt something growing in your chest.. a pressure...were you dying...??...I dunno..dying was a weird thing. You’d already done it once before but this time was different... it was slow... and cold..no...wait...warm?? It was soft and steady...a glow of warmth pooling through your limbs. Was this heaven’s flood gates showering you with love and admiration?? Maybe- wait shit, NO! IT DEFINITELY WASN’T. The heat was growing rapidly, this wasn’t like a gentle hum no this was a BURNING. It was growing unbearable, as if your nerves were being nearly fried from the inside out, Your circuits--- fuck--fUCK FUCK IT WAS TOO HOT.

You felt your forgotten limbs twitching to life once more and within a matter of seconds you jolt upwards with a new found burst of surging adrenaline, your eyes wide with panic as your circuits begun to spark from the override that’d set your wires ablaze and you struggled to grasp for a single breath. You didn't know if he was still there somewhere- Johnny, but even if he was- you wouldn't possibly be able to focus on him any longer as your body screamed in agonized pain, your nerves, bruises and no doubt broken bones all hit you like a fucking combat truck.  
The pain almost felt like enough to knock you out cold again, but you persevered .. and with every ounce of strength you could you gripped onto the concrete with your blood stained fingers, dragging yourself forward towards the opposite end of the alleyway in an all too familiar situation from one not too long ago when you'd first gotten the chip. At least the rain had put otr your circuit fire but the fried wires and sparked modules were still very much a source of seething pain. You couldn’t tell where the tears started and the pounding droplets of rain began as the moisture spilled down your chin.

Your eyes, a jumbled, glitchy mess looked frantically for anyone-- anyone...the mouth of the alleyway coming into view as you noticed a lowly business man trotting past with his suit case over his head as a makeshift umbrella and with everything you could you shouted out.  
“H--hELP.....Ple-..ease..”  
And that was it. You fell limp once more... your vision fading within seconds. Not even your thoughts were able to rear their heads this time.  
It was....quiet...silent...dark..  
...  
..  
.  
\---  
.  
..  
...  
....  
‘beep’  
....  
‘beep’...‘beep’....  
....  
‘beep’.......’beep’.....’beep’......  
....  
A gentle rhythm softly, slowly, eventually eased you from the darkness...  
‘beep’......’beep’.....’beep’.......  
You felt...... numb..  
‘beep’...’beep’......

But it wasn’t like before.. it wasn’t the numbness you felt in the alley, this wasn’t death... this was..life. You think...??  
Your vision remained hidden behind your heavy lids as your fingers twitched, the pad of your index curling inwards, gripping at a soft fabric, a sheet..maybe..

‘beep’...’beep’...’beep’....

“Y-...he-----should be ----fine--”  
What... what was that??...Oh.. a voice...? Somewhere.. a voice.  
“---he jus---ne--eds---rest---come back la---r--”  
...  
It cuts in and out of your mental space, gently hitting your ears. It sounded like it was from another room, or farther away, not within your own mind...someone.. telling another to return later?

However, despite that fact, you felt a gentle pressure on your hand..was someone there with you? How? Weren’t you alone? It was less of a hand hold and more of a brush of the fingers atop your bloodied knuckles. but you could feel it, clear as day..  
Finger pads traced each bruised knuckle on your hand before running up your arm, a thumb...finally brushing over your lip before that very hand cupped the side of your face...it felt.. nice...but it left as soon as it came and your eyebrow twitched, your lip quivering, you wanted desperately to open your eyes...but you were so tired...  
...  
‘beep’....‘beep’....‘beep’...  
....‘beep’....‘beep’....‘beep’  
....  
..  
.  
\----  
....  
...  
..  
.  
‘step step’ ‘click’  
An abrupt sound. A soft ‘click’. Maybe a door...and shoes..  
Your sensors softly whirred to life as your mental capacity began to ease you from your deep slumber and your tired, worn eyes softly peeled themselves open.  
The light was almost blinding as your optic implants fought to adjust to the lights surrounding you. Your vision nothing but a blurry brightness that slowly flickered to a more reasonable light level, your pupils making out a figure walking past the end of your..bed? You didn’t know where you were... maybe a hospital...seemed...fancy. Or..well, fancier than some back alley ripperdoc shop..

“Ahh, looks like you’re finally awake” The voice was kind and soft and you didn’t realize you were staring off into space at the man’s face until the doctor hummed a soft laugh.  
“Might take you some time for everything to properly function again, but-”  
He brings a thin flashlight up to your face, holding your right eyelid open as he flashed the bright light into your eyes, testing your optic’s reactivity. “-You should pull through just fine!”  
He states before clicking it off and shuffling it down his shirt pocket.  
“You know, you got real lucky! You were half way to hell and then some” The man mused, softly picking up a clear jug of what you assumed was water and poured it into a styrofoam cup before holding it up.  
“Here, drink, if you can”  
Your head, still heavy, managed to nod, your arm trembling slightly as you took the cup and the doctor studied your movements as you carefully sipped the fluid. And ohhh man did that hit the spot. You didn’t think water could taste so damn good.  
“H--hho--” You struggled to speak, throat hoarse. “--How..L-long was I out for--- what.. happened..??” 

The man scribbled something down on his clipboard before looking back down to you.  
“I can answer the first one.. the second question well.. that is a bit trickier”  
He grimaced, setting the clipboard down and pulling up a stool to sit beside your hospital bed. 

“A wealthy young business man brought you in two days ago, soaking wet and covered in blood and bruises” He started, pointing an index finger to your ribs that you’d just now noticed were bandaged up.  
“3 broken ribs, a fractured wrist, two broken fingers, a bullet that just barely grazed a vital organ, your right leg broken in two places and more cuts and scrapes I’d care to imagine” He sighed and looked at you dumbfounded.  
“And not only that, but your circuits were fried nearly beyond repair. I can’t quite say what you’d done to get yourself in such a bad way but..It truly is a miracle that you pulled through”

You stared at him as if he’d just told you the damn tooth fairy wasn’t real. How...how could this be?? You can barely remember but.. you were sure you were dead... how did you manage to get out of that situation?  
“But!” His voice pips up again.  
“Like I stated before, you’ll make a full recovery! Had you not been found by that man when you did.. you might not be here now! I think you must have a guardian angel!” He joked softly as you finished the clear water in your cup. A...guardian angel??  
“Anyway, I think it best you try and relax and get some more rest. If you need anything, feel free to ask the nurses right outside the hall!” He turns to leave but you grip his coat before he can, catching him off guard.  
“W--wait” The man blinks in surprise and looks back with a confused smile. “Yes?”  
You swallow softly, your voice a quiet, gruff tone as you fought to speak clearly. “Did-- did anyone come.. visit me?? While I was asleep??”  
The doctor turns to you and nods. “Oh yes, a very large looking man by the name of, hmm? What was it now? Jackie I think! Yes, that’s it!- He came the other night, however, per-regulation, he wasn't allowed to enter since you were still in a very critical state at the time. I informed him you needed your rest and sent him on his way. I told him I’d give him a call when you were well enough for visitors”  
You blinked and looked down at your right hand’s knuckle, rubbing it with your opposite hand’s fingers.  
“Was...” You paused. “He the only one? I.. I swear I felt-- I thought--” You trailed off, your hand moving up to ghost where you’d surely felt that touch before... and the doctor tilts his head curiously.  
“N-never mind” You shook your head and the doctor nods.  
“Just try and rest now, son, you’ve been through a lot”  
“Y-yeah.. o-ok” You mutter outwards and settle back down against the bed, watching the man leave and close the door behind himself, leaving you with your thoughts.

Softly, your optics fixated towards the window of the small room, the view of tall buildings in the distance. So I guess you really were in one of those fancy high-rise hospitals then, eh?  
Maybe having some wealthy business man find you half way to death was the best that could’ve damn well happened to you.

Your lip quirked into a smile before a voice practically made you jump out of the bed,  
“Haven’t seen one of those in awhile- Whoa there! You’re acting like you just saw a /ghost/”  
The smooth, smokey voice huffed a chuckle and it only took you a millisecond to put a face to those words as you flicked into his direction.  
The tall dark and handsome as fuck rockstar leaned against the far wall of the room, arms crossed as he gazed at you behind dark shades.  
“Good to see you smile, kid” He spoke once more, clarifying his earlier statement.  
Your shoulders slumped and you exhaled, relaxing almost instantly.  
“Been out awhile” He continues quietly and you look down at your bruised hands in your lap, swallowing thickly.  
"H-haha...Thought I was more than out, for a second t-to tell the truth..." You admitted flatly, the ghost of a chuckle tickling past your lips. A budding tension seemed to grow in the air and it grew deafly quiet, so many questions dancing through your brain.  
Your eyes flicked up to the other man for a moment and then back away, your lip twitching to speak once or twice before finally operating the task at hand. “Johnny-- what happened, I thought I was-”  
The ghostly legend cut you off mid-sentence as he pushed his weight off the wall, taking a few short steps towards you, settling to stand at the edge of your bed where he looked you square in the face.  
"-What fuckin' happened, was you nearly got yourself killed kid. Nearly obliterated off the face of the earth. You got fucked beyond fucked, kid. Really played a dance with the Devil, and that shit ain’t fair to either of us” His tone of voice grew more..sharp, harsh even. However, he sounded frustrated rather than angry. More like the voice a concerned dad scolding his son who’d barely scraped past a deadly accident. 

“I had to override your circuits internally and overheat them just to get you up and moving again! You would’ve fuckin’ died, kid!!”

“I..” Your voice falls silent and you look away, feeling oddly emotional all of a sudden. Wait..? He was the one who fried your wires? Was it to save you? No- surely it was he save himself.  
You felt angry, he’d risked turning you into some brain dead chrome book just to save his fuckin’ chip---  
“O-Obviously this wasn’t my fuckin’ plan, Johnny” You snip back, swallowing back what felt like tears. Shit. Don’t you dare cry- not in front of /him/.

You sigh shakily and turn to look him in those shade hidden eyes, your emotions quickly turning into anger once more. “ You think I wanna be dead? I already fuckin’ died once--- I don’t want to die again!!” You couldn’t even look at him anymore, you shivered as the emotions pushed you further.  
You looked at your hands, they were trembling. You knew why he was angry with you. You didn’t blame him. If you died, so did he. But it wasn’t like you’d gone prancing through a minefield looking to get erased!  
“Look-” you started, your throat crackling. “If I could, I’d have your chip be put in someone else who could actually keep you alive and well. But- I can’t, you’re stuck with a worthless bag of meat for a host and I can’t do a fuckin’ thing about that Johnny!” You’re shouting now, tears starting to dribble down your cheeks and you didn’t care if the people outside could hear you. You’d nearly fucking died- again, you felt worthless as a merc, and even more worthless as a shell to protect this legend that resided in your brain. The overwhelming realization that you could have carelessly gotten two living beings that mattered killed was almost painfully apparent on your brow.

“Shit kid, calm the fuck down” He barks back, stepping around the bed, approaching you swiftly.  
You fall silent when his hands grip around your wrists, holding them in your lap, firm at first but they quickly soften the hold, trying to settle you.  
“I ain’t fuckin’ pissed about that, ok kid? So calm down before you injure yourself even more for Christ’s sake” His voice is firm but reassuring in an odd way.  
“The f-fuck you mean you ain’t pissed about that??” You, look at him in disbelief with a gentle inward sniffle and the ghostly legend looks away with a deep exhale. Your eyes catching the hint of his teeth tugging at the bottom of his lip as if he’d just been asked a question that he wasn’t prepared to answer. 

“Look kid-” His eyes stayed out of your own, dancing around the room as he spoke.  
“It ain’t easy for me to talk about this kinda stuff, but just believe me when I say, maybe somebody, even an old dusty relic like me, can be fuckin’ concerned over your well-being” He wasn’t good at being sympathetic or really all that ‘nice’ whatsoever, but,, well, guess there was a time and place to improve I guess. Right now just happened to be that time.  
“I don’t want you endin’ up fuckin’ dead in some alleyway, kid. Yeah I fuckin’- don’t wanna die either, but you got a life, you’re young, in your prime yeah? Me? I’m just a legend in a chip in a world where I don’t belong anymore. If anyone deserves to live, it’s you. So don’t fuckin-” He stands now and turns to grab the box of tissues off the small table at the side of the bed. “Get yourself killed, got it?! Or i’ll fuckin’ dig right back into that brain of yours and bring you right back to kill you a third time, /MYSELF/” His last words were gruff, but once again, not littered with malicious intent.  
You found yourself.. staring, shocked perhaps?? Maybe not quite the right word. Was he being condescending or was he being genuine?? This wasn’t any sort of normal behavior you’d ever witnessed from the man before. And if you weren’t mistaken... you could almost see the hint of a rosy colored blush over his nose.  
“Now- wipe those tears, champ, don’t want none of those pretty nurses seen’ this hot shot cryin’ like a baby, yeah? Can’t get laid that way” Ok, now that sounded much more like the normal Johnny Silverhand. You found the hint of a chuckle pipping up from your dry throat and that almost immediately brought the softest smile you’ve ever seen on Johnny’s face as you took the box of tissues.  
“Y-yeah, yeah, always about sex with you”  
“You know it kid~”  
The rockstar softly chuckled and leaned off the bed, stepping for the closed doorway, glancing back to you just before it reaching it and giving you a look you couldn’t quite pin-point past those stupid fuckin’ sunglasses.  
“Now get some fuckin’ rest, got it?” It sounded like a threat but there was a playfulness behind it as he turned for the door, phasing into nothingness and you were once more, left alone with your thoughts.  
...  
..  
.


End file.
